Albert Quixall (9 August 1933 – 12 November 2020) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as an inside-forward. He joined

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

as a youth and debuted in their professional side in 1951. He played almost 250 league games for Wednesday and became known as the "Golden Boy", also being capped five times for the England national team. Quixall joined

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in 1958 for a record transfer fee, a signing made by Matt Busby to rebuild his team following the

Munich air disaster The Munich air disaster occurred on 6 February 1958, when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany. The aircraft was carrying the Manchester United F.C., Manche ...

. Quixall played 184 games for United and was regarded by

Bobby Charlton Sir Robert Charlton (11 October 1937 – 21 October 2023) was an English professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, left winger or centre-forward. Widely considered one of the greatest players of all time, he was a member ...

as key to many of his goals in this era. He ended his football career at

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

and

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

. In retirement he lived in Greater Manchester and ran a scrap metal firm.

Early life

Born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, on 9 August 1933, Quixall joined the ground staff of

as a 14-year old. He played twice for the England schoolboys international team. Away from the club Quixall found work as an apprentice joiner.

Club career

Quixall signed with Sheffield Wednesday as an amateur in 1948 and turned professional in 1950. He made his debut in February 1951 as a 17-year-old centre forward and went on to play almost 250 League games, scoring 66 League and Cup goals with the Owls. He was in his prime with Sheffield Wednesday and gained much media attention, becoming the "Golden Boy" of British football. He helped the club win promotion in 1952 and 1956 and appeared in the 1954 FA-Cup semi-final. Quixall joined

in September 1958 for a then British record fee of £45,000, one of

Matt Busby Sir Alexander Matthew Busby (26 May 1909 – 20 January 1994) was a Scottish football player and manager, who managed Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 1970–71 season. He was the first manager of an E ...

's key recruits in building a new team in the aftermath of the

, which had killed eight players and ended the careers of two others on 6 February that year. After seven games without a win for United, Quixall eventually helped the team go on a run of only two losses in 23 matches to end the season as runners-up in the First Division. Quixall's only medal with the club was the 1963 FA Cup. Altogether, he scored 56 goals in 184 games for the Red Devils. Manchester United midfielder

recalled in his autobiography that Quixall played a key role in many of his goals in this era. He noted that Quixall "played a significant role in my rush of goals. When I broke through an offside trap, often it was to get on to the end of one of Albert's perfectly placed passes". Along with

Johnny Giles Michael John Giles (born 6 November 1940) is an Irish former association football player and manager best remembered for his time as a midfielder with Leeds United in the 1960s and 1970s. After retiring from management in 1985, Giles served as ...

and David Herd, he was dropped after Everton beat United 4–0 in the 1963 FA Charity Shield. He rarely featured in the 1963–64 season, last appearing for United on Boxing Day 1963. He left the club at the end of the season, moving to

for £7,000, spending two years at

Boundary Park Boundary Park is a football stadium in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Its name originates from the fact that it lies at the northwestern extremity of Oldham, with Royton and Chadderton lying immediately north and west respectively. Bound ...

before finishing his professional career at

in 1967. Quixall afterwards spent brief spells at non-league

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

and Radcliffe Borough.

International career

Quixall was capped five times for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

between 1953 and 1955. He made his first appearance in a world cup qualifying match against Wales on 10 October 1953 and his final appearance in a friendly against Portugal on 22 May 1955. He made the starting line-up four times and appeared once as a substitute. He was the last surviving member of the England squad at the 1954 World Cup.

Later life and death

After his football career ended Quixall moved to Greater Manchester and established a scrap metal business which he ran until his retirement. Sheffield Wednesday named a hospitality suite at Hillsborough in his honour. On 12 November 2020, Quixall died at the age of 87.

Honours

Manchester United *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

: 1962–63

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quixall, Albert 1933 births 2020 deaths English men's footballers England men's international footballers Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players 1954 FIFA World Cup players English Football League players Footballers from Sheffield England men's B international footballers England men's under-23 international footballers English Football League representative players Radcliffe F.C. players Men's association football inside forwards